GENERALNOTES
Sight
Ibis
record
(Eudocimus
of
the
ruber)
Scarlet
Ibis
for
Alabama.-On
9 May 1964, an adult
Scarlet
was observed in a White Ibis (Eadocimus albus) nesting COLONY
located about 15 miles southeast of Dothan, Houston County, Alabama. The ibis was
perched in the top of a tupelo (Nyssa biflora) tree preening its feathers. No fear was
displayed by the bird as it was observed from a distance of 150 feet through 7 X 50
binoculars and was color photographed through 8 X 40 binoculars in the late afternoon.
The bird was observed for about 15 minutes, before it flew away. There was no evidence
of bands or other markings to indicate the origin of the bird. Although the bird was
not collected, the observation was verified by Dr. Julian L. Dusi, Professor of Zoology
at Auburn University, who was conducting a study of herons in the area at that time.
No additional sightings have been made to June 1965.
“A Manual of the Ornithology, the Water Birds, of the United States and of Canada,”
written by Thomas Nuttall (1834. p. 84) is the only reference used by the authors of the
Alabama ornithology books. Howell (1928. “Birds of Alabama” p. 71) and Imhof (1962.
“Alabama Birds” p. 109) refer to Nuttall’s statement, “This brilliant and exclusively
American species, inhabits chiefly within tropics, abounding in the West India and Bahama Islands, and south of the equator, at most, as far as Brazil. They migrate in the
course of the summer (about July and August), into Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and
South Carolina; but retire into Mexico, or the Caribbean Islands, at the approach of cool
weather.” In&of (op. cit.) commented, “It is doubtful that new definite sight records
will be obtained because the immature birds, which are the great wanderers, are virtually
impossible to distinguish from immature White Ibises.”
listed for
Palmer ( 1962. “Handbook of North American Birds.” Vol. 1:530-531)
North American distribution nine possible records from Texas (some occurred after
tropical storms), Audubon’s questionable sight record from Louisiana, and the A.O.U.
Checklist records from Honduras, Costa Rica, and Jamaica. He lists, also, an ibis found
dead in Dade County, Florida, 12 November 1954, that was possibly an escapee.
Robertson (1962. Audubon Field Notes, 16:470) indicated in his nesting season reports for the Florida Region that a number of Scarlet Ibises had been reported in the
Tampa Bay area. Six Scarlet Ibises were known to have escaped from the Busch Gardens;
another one was reported seen for two consecutive days at the Myakka River State
Park. He also mentioned the experiment of Carter Bundy.
Carter Bundy (1962. Florida Naturalist, 35:87) reported an experiment in July 1961,
in which 22 eggs were obtained from Trinidad, and placed under brooding White Ibises
in the Greynolds Park rookery, north of Miami, Dade County, Florida. Seventeen of
the fledglings survived of which the oldest birds were 11 months, at the time of his
article.
The Scarlet Ibis sighted and reported here could have been an escapee from the
Tampa Gardens or the Greynolds Park colony. It also could have been a wanderer
from the natural area of distribution. Regardless of its origin, it arrived in Alabama, and
its sighting is given for the record.-ROSEMARY T. DUSI, 560 Sherwood Drive, Auburn,
Alabama, 26 June 1965. (Originally
submitted 8 September 1964.)
Osprey
preys on turtle.-On
27 September 1964 at about 5:00 PM, the following
observation was made at Big Creek, southeast of Amherstburg (Concession II, one mile
north of Highway 18 in Malden Township), Essex County, Ontario.
401